Top 3 potential Auston Matthews replacements for 4 Nations after HC Mike Sullivan's concerning injury update on Team USA captain feat. Tage Thompson 

Team USA was severely shorthanded in what would ultimately prove to be its first loss of the Four Nations Face-Off tournament on Monday night against Sweden at TD Garden in downtown Boston.

Despite taking a 1-0 lead just 35 seconds into the contest after Chris Kreider scored, the Swedes tied the game and then scored the winning goal later in the same period; neither team found the back of the net for the rest of the game.

However, neither Matthew Tkachuk nor Auston Matthews played for Team USA for what they called precautionary reasons. To add insult to injury, they also lost Brady Tkachuk due to an injury during the game.

According to Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan, Matthews is dealing with an upper-body injury and that additional information will be known on Tuesday.

In the meantime, Team USA had better start thinking about some potential replacements for Matthews if he's unable to go.

The initial rules for the Four Nations Face-Off was that there are no substitutions; an exception was made when Team Canada lost defenseman Shea Theodore to injury and also played without Cale Makar due to illness; they inserted Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley, who was not part of the original Team Canada roster, in his place.

Top 3 potential Auston Matthews replacements for 4 Nations after HC Mike Sullivan's concerning injury update on Team USA

#1. Tage Thompson

Arguably the best American-born forward who isn't playing the Four Nations Face-Off, many were surprised when the Buffalo Sabres forward wasn't selected for the final roster.

The top player on the struggling Sabres, Thompson has already scored 26 goals so far in the 2024-25 NHL season and would relish the opportunity to appear in a professional postseason-style game for the first time in his NHL career.

#2. Clayton Keller

Another player that wasn't selected to the final Team USA roster which raised eyebrows everywhere, Keller was named the captain of the Utah Hockey Club before this season began and is one of the fastest young players in the NHL.

He leads Utah in scoring with 20 goals and 40 assists and has also scored six power-play goals.

#3. Jason Robertson

One of the top young talents on the Dallas Stars, Robertson has been a force with the contending Stars since his first full NHL season of 2020-21.

He's just two years removed from a 46-goal campaign in 2022-23; he also added an impressive 63 assists that season.

While his offensive stats haven't been quite as high in the last two seasons, Robertson remains one of the most important players on the Stars roster.